


First Meetings

by SilverInk



Category: Endeavour (TV)
Genre: Based on a Tumblr Post, Episode: s03e02 Arcadia, F/F, Friendship, Gay Bar, Gen, I Don't Even Know, I'm Bad At Summaries, Queer Themes, Shirley & Morse are both very gay, what is this lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-09 11:01:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14714792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverInk/pseuds/SilverInk
Summary: Shirley Trewlove is a (not so) lonely gay starting a new job in Oxford.Based on this post on Tumblr: https://okamironninja.tumblr.com/post/172484160348/





	First Meetings

**Author's Note:**

> idk what this is but I saw that post & had to try writing it... XD hope you enjoy!

_Oxford_. 

 

The City of Dreaming Spires.

 

It was just as beautiful as Shirley had imagined, and the first few days she was there before starting her new job she spent just exploring the city. That evening she found a pub, entirely by accident when she came in from the rain, where she saw probably the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen. She was wearing an immaculate black suit and bow tie, and the smile she gave Shirley was pure sunshine. Their eyes met across the room, and though they never spoke, Shirley felt an unexpected, intrigued attraction to this woman with dark eyes and short, honey brown hair, and she felt sure the attraction was mutual. She’d learned a long time ago to look for subtle signs that a woman might be attracted to her, or that she was attracted to women at all, and this woman seemed to tick all the right boxes. When Shirley left not fifteen minutes later, she realized that it was a queer pub. She chided herself briefly for not noticing while she was inside (she was a detective for Christ’s sake!), but she had been a bit distracted. Her heart sped in her chest as she realized she must’ve been right, and that woman had very likely been attracted to her after all.

 

Not only that, but her work at the Oxford City Police CID turned out to be quite interesting and fulfilling. She’d worked hard for this position, she had high hopes, and it was turning out to be every bit as good as she’d hoped it would. Her first few days of work were mostly paperwork, but she was too excited about this new start to mind much. Soon enough, more exciting things started coming her way, and her first few basic cases of car theft came in her second week there, and in her third week she was part of her first murder case.

 

There was a death in a house fire, and she spent an hour or so collecting statements from the dead man’s neighbors. They told her the dead man, Simon Hallward, was an artist and had lived there a year since last February. He wasn’t at his flat much, and didn’t have a steady girlfriend. The last person to see him was a woman on the ground floor who saw him leave at around 7:00 last night.

 

She was just interviewing the last of them when she heard a low voice behind her.

 

“Trewlove?”

 

She wrapped up her interview and turned to see a man just slightly older than herself with messy red hair, wearing the usual suit and tie of CID detectives, and a light coat against the chill in the air. He was attractive, she thought, but definitely not her type…

 

“I’m detective Morse,” he introduced himself. “Anything?”

 

“Well, not much.” She told him what she’d found out so far, and when she’d finished, he laughed a little.

 

“Your idea of ‘not much’?”

 

“Have I missed something?” Shirley asked, suddenly nervous, but Morse shook his head, smiling.

 

“No, not at all, its commendably thorough,” he told her, and she smiled too, pleased and relieved.

 

Over the course of the case she got to know Morse rather well. A girl was kidnapped, and Morse ended up doing the ransom drop in the early hours of the morning. Shirley helped with the set up, and when Morse ended up knocked unconscious, she tried to help him and get him comfortable as much as she could, sitting next to him on the bench and laying a gentle hand on his shoulder.

 

They found the missing girl, Verity, of course, and Shirley was stationed outside the door of her hospital ward, making notes of the people who came to visit her. After a while, Morse came to see Verity and brought Shirley a cup of tea as well, which she accepted gratefully. She showed him the list of visitors, and then told him an idea she’d had about Simon Hallward’s death and how the explosion had been caused. 

 

“The only reason you didn’t have success recreating it in the yard is because it’s outside,” she told him.

 

“The vapors dispersed,” he guessed. She nodded.

 

“In Hallward’s flat it would’ve built up, filled the room, and as the liquid boiled away, the exposed element would’ve become white hot, and well...”

 

“Boom,” finished Morse. He half laughed, then gave her a serious, earnest nod. “Well done.” And she knew he truly meant it, truly respected her.

 

It only took another day and the case was wrapped up, the two young women responsible arrested, and Shirley celebrated the end of her first case with another visit to that pub she’d found when she first came to Oxford. 

 

She found the place again fairly easily, and snuck in as inconspicuously as she could. Not many people were out on the streets tonight, and she was able to make sure no one was watching as she stepped inside. It was warm, and as busy as it had been last time she’d come, but she found a bar seat easily. Glancing around, she didn’t see anyone that looked familiar from last time, and certainly no beautiful, suit-clad woman with caramel-colored hair. She ordered a drink and tried not to feel too disappointed.

 

As she continued to look around, she saw someone else who was very familiar, and so unexpected and out of place here she did a double-take and tried to look closer to see if it really was who she thought it was. And yes, Shirley realized, it was indeed Detective Constable Morse, chatting it up with a slightly older man at the other end of the bar, body language open and relaxed. The man had a large hand rested on Morse’s knee and they were leaning close to each other. Though she felt a little rude for watching them, she couldn’t seem to stop. There had been something about Morse that Shirley had recognized, something that told her he might frequent these kinds of places on occasion. It was still odd to have it confirmed that he was queer and to see him looking so informal and at ease here, especially when she knew how shy and reserved he usually was.

 

His companion stood up, heading toward the toilets, and Morse glanced around briefly, surveying the area as became a habit in their job. Shirley watched as Morse looked carefully around the room, and after a moment, his eyes landed on her. He seemed just as surprised to see her as she’d been to see him, and he watched her with wide, almost fearful eyes for a moment. She gave him a brief nod, smiling, and he returned it, looking a little less alarmed. Standing, she made her way through the press of people around her toward him, and took the empty seat on his other side.

 

“Trewlove. It’s—it’s a surprise to see you.” He still looked somewhat shocked and wide-eyed.

 

“Yes, you too,” she said, but she was smiling.

 

“Are you here with anyone?” he asked, and Shirley shook her head.

 

“No, but I was hoping to see someone. I don’t think she’s here though. A beautiful woman with short caramel hair. Probably wearing a nice suit.”

 

“Sorry, I can’t say I’ve seen her tonight,” he said regretfully. “But I’ve, ah… I’ve been here with David—” he tilted his head in the direction his companion had left in “—once or twice before, so I think I know who you’re talking about, at least.”

 

“Oh! Good. Well, maybe I should start coming here more often.”

 

“Maybe we could come together sometimes?” Morse suggested, and Shirley grinned at him, nodding.

 

There was a comfortable pause where they just sipped their drinks for a moment, then Morse spoke again, slowly.

 

“Trewlove? It’s nice. Y’know, not to be the only queer fish at the station anymore.” He laughed a little as he said it, but Shirley knew how seriously he meant it, knew exactly how he felt. She gave him a smile.

 

“Yeah, I agree. It’s nice for me too.” She clinked her glass against his, and they finished off their drinks. Then David came back to his seat on Morse’s other side and took his hand, kissing the back of it lightly.

 

“Oh—ah, David, this is my friend Shirley,” he introduced her, and she could swear he was blushing a little. “Shirley, this is David.”

 

“Nice to meet you,” David said with a friendly smile, leaning across Morse a little to shake her hand.

 

“You too,” Shirley smiled back.

 

Then the bartender set a colorful drink down in front of her with a little secretive look. “From the woman at the end of the bar,” he told her.

 

“Oh. Oh, thank you!” She looked over at Morse, and he raised his eyebrows, just as bemused as she was.

 

Shaking her head, she laughed quietly, then looked toward the other end of the bar to see none other than the woman she’d so badly wanted to meet tonight. She was wearing a light grey suit with a blue tie this time and was so unbelievably beautiful, and she lifted her own glass in Shirley’s direction. Stunned, Shirley returned the gesture, then turned to Morse and David.

 

“Excuse me, gentlemen.” Then to Morse in an excited whisper, “That’s the woman I was hoping to see!”

 

“What, really? Good luck!” He squeezed her shoulder, and then Shirley was standing again, walking toward the other end of the bar and the beautiful woman with the dark, captivating eyes.

 

The woman smiled at Shirley as she got closer, pulling out a seat for her to sit on. “Fancy seeing you here,” she said, and Shirley almost blushed at how this woman managed to make it sound like flirtation.

 

“I—oh, I hoped I’d see you here again,” Shirley said quietly, taking a seat, and the woman leaned a little closer. “I’m Shirley, by the way.” She held out her hand, and instead of shaking it, the woman pressed a kiss to her knuckles. Her breath caught in her throat. She’d never had a woman pay attention to her like this, never even hoped it could happen, let alone with someone this attractive.

 

“And I’m Bridget. Charmed.”

 

There was a quiet moment where they just watched each other, Shirley’s heart beating rapidly in excitement, and Bridget didn’t let go of her hand, instead tracing delicate patterns over her skin.

 

“So what’s a pretty lady like you doing in a place like this?”

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love to know your thoughts in the comments!


End file.
